Crispy or crunchy food stored in a food container becomes soggy after a very short period of time. Because of this, delivered or take-out food rarely tastes as good as it is served in a restaurant, and lunches prepared at home in the morning are not as delicious as they should be.
This problem is caused by moisture trapped in the food container. Existing solutions, such as US Patent Publication No. 2010/00320210, passively vent the trapped moisture out of the container. These solutions are limited because relying on air circulation alone, the moisture is not removed fast enough, or at least in an amount of time that is meaningful to avoid condensation inside the container, and eventually the moisture comes back to the food. In addition, by introducing ambient air from outside the container, the temperature inside changes, making hot food colder or salads warmer. Furthermore, since the replacement air that enters the vented container contains moisture as well, adopting these solutions results in introducing more moisture into the food container and the food.
Other strategies, such as US Patent Publication No. 2013/0056369, use absorbent materials placed on the interior side of the lid to absorb moisture. Like the solutions previously stated, the absorbent materials do not work well when a relatively large amount of moisture comes up from sizzling food.
Because the problem affects not only people's enjoyment of their lunches but also customer satisfaction of businesses that serve take-out food, food containers that quickly and effectively remove moisture in the containers are needed.